Once upon a time, Nidalee was a monster of the mid lane. She tossed spears from afar to do ridiculous damage, and used her high mobility to escape from potential threats.
These days, Nidalee needs to be a bit more brave. Instead of leaping away from enemies and hitting them from afar, she dives into the heat of battle, slashing away and hoping to strike down her foes before they take her down. This new play style seems to please some of the more aggressive LCS top laners.
Split push for life
If there’s one thing we learned from Team Dignitas’ second game in Week 9 against Evil Geniuses, it’s that you don’t want to let a Nidalee get an early lead.
Thanks to an early successful gank from Crumbzz and a well-timed teleport to the bot lane to pick up two more kills, ZionSpartan found himself sitting on top of a pile of blood money, ready to spend it on the components of a Trinity Force.
From there, it was trouble for Evil Geniuses. With ZionSpartan split pushing in the top lane, and Innox’s Irelia unable to take him one-on-one, they had to commit precious resources to stop him from freely taking objectives. Once they did, Zion would simply leap away to safety while his teammates used the opportunity to wail away at the EG’s base.
Even when she’s not picking up a ton of kills - Zion only ended with five in an otherwise dominant match - Nidalee’s incredible wave clear and high mobility makes her a force to be reckoned with on the map. She has strong AOE to push minions back, huge burst damage to deal with single opponents that try and face her, and the ability to get away when she’s at a disadvantage. She may not have the strongest teamfight or poke in the world, but she’s an invaluable asset to objective-focused teams.
Hunt them down
While ZionSpartan showed what Nidalee could do with some help from her friends, Cloud9’s Balls exemplified Nidalee’s ability to gain advantages purely on her own.
As he laned against Westrice’s Gragas in C9’s Week 9 matchup against compLexity, the pair continuously traded damage from skillshots, simultaneously loosening each other up for jungle ganks.
At least, that’s what Westrice was waiting for. Balls, on the other hand, had better ideas. As soon as Westrice moved up to land a last hit, he jumped in, using Nidalee’s superior movement abilities to chase the slow Gragas down and finish him off.
When left alone with a single lane opponent - particularly one who doesn’t do well up close and personal - Nidalee can more than hold her own. Her Javelin Toss may not do quite as much damage as it used to, but as a way to wear someone down from a distance, it’s still a huge threat. And that’s not even mentioning the range buff it gives to her Leap to chase people down and finish them off. Don’t expect to get away from a Nidalee if she’s decided you need to die.
Becoming the hunted
When she’s allowed to do her own thing, Nidalee is an absolute beast. However, if she gets behind, she becomes a bit of a liability.
Take the game against LMQ and CLG from Week 9. Seraph have come into the NA LCS as a feared Nidalee player, but LMQ had his number throughout the match. Thanks to a roam from from the ultimate of XiaoWeiXiao’s Twisted Fate, Ackerman’s Gragas was able to take him down. Just like that, he had the little boost he needed to survive against the Huntress.
From there, they continued to focus on taking down Seraph. He was never left around in the top lane, receiving consistent ganks and regularly being nailed with heavy crowd control. As a result, he’s rendered far less effective than her potential.
It may seem obvious that “kill her a bunch” would be a solid strategy against just about every other champion in the game, but for Nidalee, it’s a particularly large problem. Just like many split pushers, if she’s forced to flee back to the protection of her team, she can’t put pressure on objectives. That means less farm for her, less gold, and all an all around lower power level.
For the new, engage-heavy Nidalee, that’s a huge issue. She can’t build pure damage anymore and expect to survive by throwing spears from the back line. Now, she needs to get up close to Swipe health bars away, and without defensive items, she won’t survive long enough to do that.
If she gets behind, Nidalee struggles to find herself relevant. However, if she’s given an inch, excels at finding opportunities. She can pick up solo kills with ease, chase down low-health enemies, and escape with little problem.
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